An Unforgetable Halloween
by mangawolfgirl96
Summary: Once again, the annual LME Halloween Party is in full swing, but Ren and Kyouko aren't having any fun this year either. Read and find out why! Loosely connected to A Not so Terrorific Halloween.
1. Chapter 1

Hey, everyone! Here's the Halloween fic I promised. I hope you all enjoy and have a happy Halloween!

* * *

><p>Ren couldn't say he was amused. The President and Yashiro, on the other hand, seemed to be greatly amused. Unfortunately, so did Kotonami-chan and the rest of the LME employees who weren't drooling over his costume. He may've been dark and brooding as Cain Heel, but that didn't mean he was this dark and bloodthirsty.<p>

Ren winced internally at the unintentional pun, but seriously, why did he have to be a vampire? He would have been perfectly happy as a werewolf, even better if it was one of those damn wolf costumes that were hard to see out of like the dog and cat costumes last year. Anything to get him out of the torture that was this stupid promotion for a drama airing the day after Halloween.

It was bad enough he was the main antagonist and had faked his death at the end of the first episode. Worse yet, Kyouko starred in the show and one of the most eagerly awaited scenes was when his character bit hers and thus change the vampire hunter into a vampire. It had been hell to film and it was an even worse torture to have to stage the scene again and again and again for all the guests at the LME Halloween Party. He wasn't sure if Kyouko hated it as much as he did, since she was stubbornly staying in character, but he hoped she did. And on the other hand he hoped she didn't.

Sipping his refreshment of blood red punch, Ren scanned the guests as he hoped to find an escape route to the costume vault. Once he was out of his ridiculous vampire costume, he could actually try to enjoy the festivities and maybe talk to his parents who had been able to make it again this year. Seeing an opportunity when the orchestra began playing a waltz, Ren slipped into the crowd and, hunched, made his way out of the ballroom. It took him a bit to find the costume vault, seeing as it had been a few years since he'd actually been there and it almost looked like a normal stretch of wall. As he punched his code into the outside key pad, the circular titanium door popped open, and the tall actor quickly stepped inside, only to be horrified at the selection laid out before him. Pinks, purples, pastels, frills, lace and flowers as far as the eye could see, and not a pair of pants to be found, the false brunet noted, appalled and awed at the president's scheme-thwarter. Ren may've hated his costume and the antics that went with it but this—he wouldn't be caught dead in one of those, torture or no.

His hand jerked as his name was called from outside and happened to press the locking mechanism. He watched in utter horror as the vault door swung shut, sealing him inside. Oh shit, damn, and duck.

Kyouko was relieved but annoyed that her sempai was nowhere to be found. While it meant she could finally rest after doing the same pose over and over again, it also meant Tsuruga-san had shirked his responsibilities, which was most unprofessional. Surely if something urgent had cropped up, the President would've been notified, and her indirectly, so that maybe she could've changed out of these uncomfortable stiletto boots and tight leather pants. Not to mention her auburn wig was hot and itchy. She couldn't believe that man had dared to leave her behind to suffer alone in her stiff costume. When Kyouko found Tsuruga, he'd better be repentant. She wasn't quite sure what she'd do if he wasn't, but staking was on the table as was decapitation and death by inferno. Maybe that was her character whispering in her ear, but she didn't really mind at the moment, if Tsuruga had indeed abandoned her to suffer alone. She'd had enough of that from just about everyone in her past and she didn't need more in the present.

As Kyouko became more uncomfortable in her chair against the far wall of the LME ballroom, she decided to seek out her counterpart and give him hell for ditching her and his responsibilities. She paused as she reexamined that thought slowly. Tsuruga hadn't really left her behind, he had just left her alone to endure something that was their dual responsibility. That was all. She wasn't anyone important to him. Just a replaceable kouhai after all.

Kyouko didn't like the idea—for some unknown reason—but she firmly squashed the depressing and uneasy feeling it created, going off to find her missing vampire. The missing vampire. The missing actor goddamn it!

The young actress sighed and knocked her head against the wall. She needed her head examined for being unable to let go of the fact her sempai was handsome and he looked absolutely hot in his costume. She felt like screaming. She settled for banging her head against the wall some more, hoping some semblance of reason would be banged into her head. No—_bang—_such—_bang—_luck_._

After a few more repetitions, a large hand appeared between the wall and her sore forehead. The amber eyed woman looked from the hand up to its owner's worried expression. "Otou-san."

Hizuri Kuu examined the large bump developing on his adopted daughter's forehead. "Is everything okay, Kyouko?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't everything be okay?"

"You were hitting your head against the wall," the brown eyed man in faux fur and wolf ears pointed out blandly.

The auburn haired woman blushed. "I was trying to clear my head."

"Maybe you should try something a little less…debilitating, like going out for a walk," the famous actor suggested, leading the young woman out of the LME ballroom and into a hall. "Now I have to get back to Julie for a dance or she'll skin me alive."

Kyouko flashed the older man a smile, knowing that if her adoptive father had promised her adoptive mother a dance and didn't show the glutton would be very, very sorry. "Tell Okaa-san hello for me."

"Sure thing, kiddo," the tall man said, ruffling her wig. With one last grin, he headed back to the ballroom, praying his cute little daughter wouldn't realize his connection with this particular plot. If all else failed, he'd blame Lory. It had been the eccentric's idea originally after all, Kuu and Julie had just sort of added on to it. Like with the dresses in the costume vault.

Unworriedly, Kyouko strolled down the hall, concentrating on her steps instead of what was on her mind. And keeping an eye out for Tsuruga, of course, so that she could give him hell for leaving her behind while he went off to do God-knows-what at God-knows-where. It was along her walk that she heard the banging on what appeared to be a normal stretch of wall with a random keypad. If she remembered correctly that was the president's costume vault but nobody should've been in there, especially during the middle of the LME Halloween Party.

Could someone have gotten trapped inside by accident? There was a panel on the inside where you could lock it, but you could also unlock from there as well. Anyone with a code should've been able to get in and out. Kyouko knew she could with the code she'd received at the beginning of her role as Setsuka.

After a few moments hesitation, the actress typed in her pass code and the circular door popped open just a crack. It wasn't enough for her to enter, but she could see a fair portion of the inside, which included a rather grumpy Tsuruga surrounded by lots and lots of princess dress. So _this_ was where he snuck off to. Kyouko couldn't blame him. She wanted out of her costume too and what better place to find a new one than in the notoriously eccentric Takarada Lory's infamous costume vault? But still, her sempai should've been able to use his access code to get out.

"Tsuruga?" the woman asked quietly, drawing the tall man's attention.

His long white wig was discarded on the floor and appeared to have been stomped on—oh, he _loved_ being stuck in a _titanium vault_ with _no way out_ and in _too tight_ skinny pants, a _scratchy_ leather shirt, _dry_ contact lenses _and_ an _itchy_ wig that he tended to _trip over_—and left his annoyed expression plain as his head swiveled towards her. Hope appeared as he spotted her at the open door. Well, partially open door.

"Mogami-san! Thank God, I thought I'd be stuck in here until tomorrow." When Lory would appear to gloat and promptly laugh his ass off at Ren's arranged predicament.

…Now, why was the door only cracked open thirty centimeters approximately? It had swung wide open for him earlier so that it only popped open to such a small extent was certainly odd…

"May I ask how you came to be stuck in here, sempai?"

Did Ren really want to answer that? Probably not but…"I was looking for another costume and—the inside panel malfunctioned, locking me inside. I tried unlocking it but the system doesn't seem to be working." Hopefully Kyouko wouldn't be able to catch that small lie sandwiched between two truths.

The actress didn't buy the bit about the panel, but decided to let it go. Right now she needed to focus on how to get the older man out with the heavy titanium door only slightly ajar and not budging in either direction.

"Could you try to push from your side while I try to pull, Tsuruga-sempai?"

Red eyes blinked at her for a moment before the tall man agreed. He put all his weight into shoving the door with his shoulder while Kyouko pulled with all her might. Not so much as a creak came from the large, circular door. Why did President Takarada have to make it titanium anyway? It wasn't like it the location of the vault was that obvious—Kyouko had walked passed that stretch of wall several times unknowingly—and most of the LME president's collection, especially the valuables, were kept at his mansion.

The actress frowned examining the vault's contents once again. There was only women's clothing so either the president was planning on cross-dressing or he had purposely cleared out all male attire because he knew Tsuruga would sneak in and change costumes. She had to admit it was genius foresight since the tall actor wouldn't be caught dead in female attire.

Still, that didn't account for the stuck door. Once again Kyouko entered her code into the keypad and this time the door opened a little more, just enough for someone to come in or out.

At that point Tsuruga had turned his back to the door, looking for an alternative point of entry or, in this case, exit. So the actress did the logical thing of going into the vault with the intention of dragging her sempai out. That was when the door closed behind her without warning.

"Ah, shit."

* * *

><p>Muwhahahaha~! You all thought it was a one-shot, didn't you? It was supposed to be, but I started writing and couldn't stop until I had made an entire plot. As I finish chapters, I'll post them, but it might be a while. Don't hate me, ne?<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Ren whirled to find his kouhai right behind him and the door shut. Whatever color he might've had left drained from his face as the actor realized his new predicament. Not only was he trapped in a costume vault, he was trapped in it with the woman he was madly in love with and had been bending over backwards for the last three years to make sure she didn't find out until after he'd won her heart. He had about a snowball's chance in hell now if they were going to be in here until tomorrow morning.

Lory was going to die. One way or another, Ren was going to kill that bastard, even if he wasn't at fault for Kyouko getting stuck in here with him.

Said man—who was currently wearing a plain suit back in the ballroom—sneezed, and the blonde woman he was talking to frowned.

"Lory, are you alright?" Hizuri Julie asked, concerned about her friend's health.

The mustached man grinned and waved away her baseless concern. "Perfectly fine, probably just a certain someone plotting my demise."

That worried the blue eyed woman even more. Her son wasn't known for being particularly forgiving. Or lenient. He was, however, known for covering his tracks impeccably, which wouldn't bode well for Lory if Kuon did decide to go after the wealthy and influential man. Really, she hated it when they fought, especially when that idiot husband of hers made sure to feed the flames on both sides. Julie did admit to going along with this current scheme to get Kyouko and Kuon together, but she'd barely broken the crust on this particular pie. Lory and Kuu were up to their necks in this.

The blonde ex-model sighed. She hated ruining someone's fun, but if those two consenting adults in the vault weren't getting busy by the time the party ended at six—some seven hours from now—she was letting her adorable children out, Lory and Kuu be damned. Still, she hoped one of those two dense morons took the initiative for once and they found the two Japanese actors entwined later. Sometimes Julie wished her son hadn't become so honorable. Maybe then he would've made a move on a minor and save the rest of them a whole lot of troubling of trying to get them to realize their own feelings.

Back in the vault, Kyouko looked at her boots as she waited for Tsuruga's wrath. She'd failed in her rescue attempt and had managed to get them both trapped now because of her own stupidity. The amber eyed woman waited, braced for anything: yelling, screaming, cursing—all of it. But even after five minutes, nothing came. Her sempai just stared at the closed door.

"…Sempai?" the young actress reached out tentatively and placed a hand on the tall man's forearm.

His eyes flickered to hers and he winced, seeing her miserable expression. Ren would probably have worn that kind of look if he'd been trapped in some odd vault with his sempai too, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

With a tired sigh, the brown haired man sat back down on the floor. "The President will probably come to check on the vault in the morning so we won't be stuck here more than maybe ten hours."

He wasn't sure of the exact time, but Lory would check on them somewhere between nine and ten o'clock to make sure they hadn't killed themselves. Or each other. Or to see if this gimmick had finally got them together. If by some miracle it worked, Ren would wear a LoveMe Section uniform—the President had one in the actor's size even if the other man denied it vehemently. The tall man had seen it for himself.—for an entire year with minimal grumbling.

Lory would be ecstatic that his top actor was promoting his latest pet project. The tall foreigner didn't believe for a moment this stupid scheme would work though. His Kyouko was obviously unhappy to be stuck in here with her "sempai." He really hated that label and all the honorable intentions it represented, Ren thought, glancing as his kouhai who had taken a seat on the floor across from him. His intentions were_ far_ from that of a simple sempai.

The actor struggled not to sigh. Things just couldn't seem to go his way anymore, especially when it involved the woman sitting across from him. Who had at some point begun to remove her clothes, starting with her leather jacket and stiletto boots.

"What are you doing?"

The actress looked at him blankly. "I'm changing out of my costume. A dress is much more comfortable than leather." Then she blushed, realizing who she was in the vault with. "Um…could you turn around?" Kyouko squeaked quietly.

Her sempai didn't bother to reply, just turned himself to face the rack behind him and tried not to bang his head against the wall. The mental images coupled with his damn conscience were making it very hard to resist such temptation. Only half of which was directed at the wall.

Kyouko quickly shed the rest of her clothes and grabbed the nearest dress. It was a floor length ball gown in a deep cobalt blue. There black lace around the modest neckline and long sleeves, making the color seem richer than it actually was. Surprisingly, the gown fit perfectly and underneath the rack were shelves of shoes. The actress picked out a pair of matching satin slippers and placed them on her aching feet.

"You can turn around now, sempai."

When the older man didn't move, the young woman picked up her skirt and petticoats and crossed the space between them. The amber eyed nineteen-year-old tapped her sempai's shoulder, becoming worried when that didn't draw his attention either. She waved her hand in front of his face, yet the brunet still didn't react. Panicking, Kyouko turned her sempai so he looked straight into her eyes.

"Sempai?" Still no reaction. "Tsuruga?" Nothing. "Damn it, Ren, answer me!" His eyes focused on her but he didn't utter a word or move. "You're starting to scare me. Are you alright?"

The man leaned towards his kouhai, still immersed in too many tempting images to realize what he was doing and the ramifications. His lips brushed hers and Kyouko froze against the sweet, gentle assault. The young actress's mind whirled, frantically looking for a feasible explanation before the truth could set in.

Had she fallen asleep without realizing it and this was some bizarre dream? But it seemed so real…and Kyouko certainly didn't want something so sweet, so good to end. She wasn't sure which scared her more, but that voice was quiet and very small, overwhelmed by the desire to continue the kiss.

Tsuruga's lips moved gently against hers and after a few moments she began to hesitantly copy him. Never let it be said that Kyouko was a slow learner, especially with something so enjoyable.

Abruptly Ren jerked back, hands that had at some point clutched Kyouko closer now holding her at arm's length. He stared at his kouhai, horrified to notice that the evidence of his transgression was easily visible in not just her kiss-bruised lips but her flushed cheeks and glassy amber eyes. And, if the actor wasn't mistaken, the evidence of her apparent pleasure was her rarely seen pout, possibly over the abrupt end of their kiss. It made her look so cute and oh so delectable, which wasn't a good thing with Ren's control as thin as it was. As it was, he was very tempted to pull her closer for a repeat—reason, responsibility and escaping be damned. Also, if he didn't stop now, Ren wasn't sure if he would be able to stop before things had escalated passed the danger point.

While he wanted to carve his way into Kyouko's heart, physical means would result only in his downfall. He had to win her over emotionally before that and then slowly ease her into the idea of love. Together. With him. A couple of kisses weren't going to get him anywhere but out the door, probably after having gone through a wall first. Okay, a couple walls, and that was before the President got wind of it.

His life would turn into nothing short of a living hell if he screwed this up, and not just because he'd beat himself up for letting the best thing that ever happened to him get away.

By this time, Kyouko's endorphin-fuzzled head had started to clear and she quickly realized this wasn't a dream, proof of which was Tsuruga's white-knuckled grip on her arms. It wasn't painful, but much more pressure and she'd have bruising tomorrow. Later today. Did it matter when someone was on the verge of a mental breakdown? Or was it meltdown? It sure felt like her brain was already leaking out of her ears, but then again how could she know when she had a trouble telling the difference between dreams and reality?

Kyouko opened her mouth to tell Tsuruga to let go of her, but the words wouldn't come out, which only served to increase her rising panic. And this was before seeing her sempai's pained and disgusted expression. Her heart squeezed painfully as tears pricked at her eyes. She had always known he'd come to disgust her at some point or another, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt or that she hadn't hoped beyond reason that she'd always be his kouhai. Just being by his side would've been enough.

But after seeing the look in Tsuruga's eyes, she couldn't. She couldn't burden him with her presences any longer. Even it felt like she was breaking into a hundred thousand pieces because of it. And damn it, she was going to cry if she didn't put up her public persona fast. As it was, a tear escaped and landed in her lap before she could stretch her lips in a bright, false smile. After a moment it changed to a look of curious confusion.

"Sempai?"

His eyes rose to meet hers, and in that moment every emotion drained away except for concern. It made her heart ache for him to force such a facade for her. "Could you let go of me please? It hurts," she explained softly, matter-of-factly.

Kyouko refused to cry. She hadn't cried since Shou had tossed her aside three years ago and she wouldn't start now. At least not in front of her sempai. Not in front of Tsuruga-san. He didn't want to be her sempai anymore.

Damn it. She needed to get out of here or she was going to cry.

* * *

><p>Okay, now before you hit that review button to rant about how OC the couple is being, I just want to point out that in fanfictions a certain about of OCness is required, even only to move the storyline along.<p>

I hope you enjoyed despite the sad ending of this chapter. Have a happy Halloween. :)

~MWG96


	3. Chapter 3

Ren withdrew his hands as if merely touching Kyouko burned. And it did in a very pleasant way, which made touching her dangerous for both of them. The actor was disgusted with himself more than usual. Probably because he'd done something stupid like kissing her, no matter if she'd kissed back—wait. She'd kissed back?

He opened his mouth to ask just that, but as soon as he had released her, Kyouko had gone over to inspect the control panel on the inside of the vault. Was she avoiding him?

She could just be in shock, a little voice offered in the back of his head. That was potentially more depressing than his first thought. In hopes of distracting himself, Ren watched Kyouko as she fiddled with the panel. She typed in what he guessed was her code and wasn't surprised when it rejected her code as well. The damn thing was part of the President's plan—he just knew it.

The actor was surprised when the actress kicked the door in an obvious show of frustration before hobbling in a circle as she cursed rather colorfully. He hadn't been aware the sweet woman knew that many filthy words, but Ren supposed he shouldn't be surprised considering who she'd grown up with.

And she was pretending he didn't exist. Ren could feel it in his bones, and knew it was because of that kiss. Damn it! He was going to kill the President for this. He'd get his father to help too. That doting idiot would go berserk when he found out his precious daughter was upset. Ren just had to make sure his dad didn't figure out that while Lory was the root, he wasn't the direct cause. The false brunet liked his head where it was—securely on his shoulders.

Kyouko bit her lip in frustration, staring at the door as she willed it to open. The stupid thing didn't even give a little creak of hope. Damn it. She really, really didn't want to cry in front of Tsuruga-san. And if she kept thinking about it and that goddamn door didn't open, she was going to. Damn it, why'd he have to kiss her? Some cruel joke that had been more painful to endure than he'd thought?

The actress tried to push away those kinds of thoughts, but the lock was off the box and she wasn't going to be able to put it back. Damn it. She glared at the door. Damn door. She pounded her first against the metal. Kyouko glared at the door, drew her leg back and kicked the stupid, goddamn vault door again.

…_What the hell? _The brunette woman stared out into the hallway, dumbfounded. Seriously? The third time's the charm? She was going to strangle that mustached, love-crazed, eccentric freak for this! Who the hell made a failsafe like that?

If she had turned around, Kyouko would've seen her thoughts reflected in Tsuruga-san's expression. Instead, she used the opportunity to escape. The actress didn't care where she was going as long as it was somewhere she could curl up and cry alone. She must've taken the stairs at some point for the brunette found herself staring out a window that overlooked the parking lot several stories below. Rain made the asphalt shine in the light of a nearby lamppost, but Kyouko didn't really notice. There was more than enough rain in her life right now, and that didn't include the lithe drops falling from the sky.

After a long while, the brunette laid her heated face against the cool glass and she laughed at herself, the sound far more watery than she liked. Was she an idiot or what? First Shou and now Tsuruga-san? Could she pick guys or what? She was cursed—cursed to never find someone in this world to love, who loved her also. Over and over, her heart was doomed to be broken into a million shards and just after it had been put together again, her heart broke again.

Just like how she was going to cry again after she'd just stopped. The day was still young yet, the horizon alit with the arising sun. Kyouko was on somebody's shit list, she was sure of it. Whether it was God's, a god's, or some form of Fate's, she didn't know, but her life as it thus far was proof enough for the actress.

Back in the vault, Ren sat, staring at the open door that Kyouko had exited—he briefly glanced at his pocket watch which he'd been repeatedly checking—five hours ago. It seemed like just a few minutes ago the woman of his dreams had walked away—well, _ran _away—, but then again it felt like years. Years that made his heart ache and his mind call him every derogatory word it could think of. Which turned out to be almost his entire Japanese, English, and Mandarin vocabulary. Ren still felt like he'd gotten off way too easily. Maybe he'd go track down Yashiro or parents and have them tell him what a horrible, stupid bastard he was. Hell, maybe he'd see if he could find Kotonami-chan. No one could tell him how much of an idiot he was better than that sharp-tongued woman, except maybe Kyouko. The woman who was currently avoiding him.

The actor buried his head in his hands. Ren had royally screwed up this time. Worse than he had during his teenage years which he hadn't thought possible until—he checked his watch again—five hours and fifteen minutes ago. Had it really been that long ago? That recent?

He should've known better than to do something so stupid—no matter how tentative the grip on his self control was. It didn't matter that the brunet had been fantasizing for over two years about doing just that to his kouhai, or that his mind had been going more and more into the gutter ever since last Halloween. That didn't change the fact that he never should've done it and by kissing Kyouko, he'd probably just screwed up his only chance of being happy, while causing trouble for the woman he loved with all his heart.

His parents were going to kill him and Ren thought about letting them. He deserved it for what he did to an innocent, beautiful girl who was barely a woman. Not that Ren seemed to notice that last little fact anymore. The actor scrubbed his hands over his face. How could he be so stupid? While he wasn't a genius, he would've thought he had more common sense than to do something like that. But no, he'd gone and done it the second he had the opportunity.

Even worse, he'd fallen to Fuwa's level. Ren couldn't believe it—hadn't thought it possible—but he had fallen to that cheeky brat's level. God, he was an idiot.

The sound of a quiet knock on the heavy door drew the actor's attention and he raised his eyes to meet the concerned gaze of his mother.

"Ren-kun,"—Julie hating using that name, especially with a suffix, but she didn't have much of a choice—"are you alright? And what happened to Kyouko?"

The brunet stared at his famous mother incredulously. "You were a part of this?" If he hadn't been so miserable and pissed at himself, the actor would've been yelling until his voice gave out. He might've even been tempted to imagine strangling his mother.

"Lory asked for advice on a hypothetical scenario! I didn't know until tonight that he'd meant to set you and Kyouko up." That much was true. She just didn't mention that Lory had told her at the start of the Halloween party and that she had time to warn him and/or Kyouko. A small detail that would save her from her son's fearsome wrath.

She risked said wrath still as she approached the obviously depressed man. "What's wrong?" Kuon avoided her eyes, a clear indicator he didn't want to talk about it, but she pressed forward. "Did something happen with Kyouko?"

Originally, the beautiful model had come with her superstar husband in search of their children, but once they realized only their son resided in the vault, Kuu had gone off in search of their daughter and Julie was left to console and/or interrogate Kuon, no matter how much it pained them both.

Her heart twisted as her son flinched. Something had gone wrong and once again, Kuon was blaming himself. He never blamed others, even when they deserved it. She knew full well how many times her little boy had been fired because he wasn't his father, and instead of being angry at the idiot directors who had expected a miniature Kuu, the tall actor in front of Julie turned it inward, becoming furious at himself for not being good enough. Her boy was a bigger fool than his father sometimes, and Julie was wearily amused that her honorary daughter hadn't made the connection yet. Other times she wanted to hit the girl up over the head for her obliviousness.

Quietly, Julie pulled the vault door closed behind her, knowing very well that some photographer or reporter would've been prowling the halls as they looked for the next big splash in entertainment news. They weren't getting this juicy tidbit, not tonight. Well, this morning technically, but the ex-model wasn't known for technicalities.

Kuon looked up at her briefly as she sighed and mentally debated what exactly to do with her moping son now. She was stuck between slapping him upside the head and hugging him until he felt calm enough to talk about what happened. She settled for pushing him to the side a little and sitting next to him as she rested her head on his broad shoulder. He'd grown so much since he'd came to Japan that Julie had barely recognized him at first. She blamed Lory since he was the one who had kidnapped her baby boy and brought him overseas.

"…Kaa-san?"

The blonde woman turned her head to stare at her son. It had been years since she'd heard those words, in person, from her son. "Yes, Kuon?"

He looked at his hands. "Aren't you going to ask what happened?"

"You'll tell me eventually," she said simply. "And I told your father to come and find us if he hasn't heard from me by ten."

Julie watched in amusement as the false brunet pulled out an ornate pocket watch and checked the time.

"So I've got three hours, stuck in here with a master manipulator."

"Yep."

"I'm going to die today, aren't I?"

She didn't even bother lying. "It depends."

Kuon let out a tortured groan and buried his head in his hands.


	4. Chapter 4

Kuu wandered the halls of LME for almost half an hour before he finally found Kyouko curled up against one of the floor to ceiling windows on the eighth floor with red eyes and a heartbroken face. His boy, no matter how much Kuu loved him, was going to get hell this time. There was no one else who could've inflicted this much pain to his little girl's fragile heart.

The large man's footsteps were far from quiet—every other step a loud squeak—but the amber eyed woman didn't so much as glance his way. Her puffy eyes were fixed on the rising sun as her lips trembled from the sheer willpower by which Kyouko was holding back another flood of tears. Wordlessly, he crouched beside her and murmured her name softly. She jolted in place and turned to look at him in soundless terror. A small whimper escaped her lips as he reached to pat her back in comfort and it stung, even if she didn't mean for it to.

Whatever Ren had done had brought Kyouko's doubts about love and her own value to the forefront, and she once again feared to be rejected by those she loved, her pseudo-parents included. A proud actress had been reduced to a small, frightened animal in less than four hours by a single man who barely deserved her.

Kuu bit back a snarl. He loved his son, but he loved his daughter too. His son could handle rejection, even if it would take some time to recover. His little girl had had too much rejection already and feared it more than anything else.

Slowly, the senior actor picked his pseudo-daughter up, despite her small, whimpering protests, and carried her into one of LME's many lounges nearby. He set her on the couch, ordering her to stay there or he'd give her some unmentioned punishment, and left to go get her some tea from a vending machine he'd passed in the hall. He returned with a steaming cup shortly, and pressed it into Kyouko's cold, trembling hands. The brunette stared into the swirling tea for a long moment before taking a tentative sip. She yelped as the hot liquid burned her tongue.

"You should've warned me it was hot, Otou-san!"

The brown eyed man smiled wearily. "You weren't talking to me so I thought you didn't want me talking to you."

Kyouko felt a rush of shame for her earlier foolishness and stared into the green depths of her cup. "I-I'm sorry. I'm just sort of out of it right now." Tears once again gathered in her eyes and the actress took a deep, fortifying breath to push them back. "I don't deserve your kindness."

The tall man sat on the couch next to her, put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a gentle, and hopefully reassuring, squeeze. "You deserve that and so much more, Kyouko. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Kuu paused to let his words sink in for a moment. "Especially yourself."

The young actress didn't even bother denying the accusation. They both knew it would be a lie. It was a fairly new revelation and it unnerved her how little self-confidence she had. She had thought after Shou, she'd become more confident, more sure of herself, but she hadn't. She was still the same withdrawn, plain girl she had been when she'd left Kyoto four years ago. She hadn't changed at all. The woman wasn't sure why the thought made her want to cry.

"I'll try," she croaked quietly, her voice hoarse from crying.

"That's my girl."

Her Otou-san's words, so soft and gentle, brought tears to her eyes once again, but she didn't have the will to stop them. Kuu didn't speak, just held her as she grasped his shirt and cried into his shoulder. He was going to have a very long talk with his son once Kyouko was safely tucked away in her apartment. But for now the actor was going to hold his little girl until her tears dried and eventually ask what had happened to make her cry. From the sound and frequency of her sobs, it was going to be a bit.

Nearly two hours later, Kyouko's sobs had been reduced to soft sniffles and Kuu thought it was time to get the tired woman home. After she'd gotten some sleep, he'd call from Lory's mansion, where he was staying with his wife, and make sure she was okay before asking what had happened. This time, the international superstar would give his pseudo-daughter an opportunity to just hang up the phone if she didn't want to talk to him. He'd get Julie to call Kyouko next and if she still wouldn't talk to the model, Kuu would head over to her apartment and see if he couldn't get her side of the story to help get a sense of what really happened—because, really, his son's story would most likely be a greatly skewed version of what had happened in Lory's notorious costume vault.

It took a bit of coaxing, but Kuu managed to detach Kyouko from his shirt and convinced her to let him take her home in a company car. Thankfully, no one recognized the two famous actors as they made their way to the parking garage attached to LME. Kuu had stopped by Lory's office on the way to get a key and the corresponding fob for one of the sedans from the eccentric man's secretary.

He quietly urged the amber eyed woman into the passenger seat of a sleek blue sedan and she complied miserably, curling against the seat after buckling her seatbelt. Kyouko didn't feel like doing anything except curling into a tiny ball and disappearing. Crying had taken a weight off her shoulders, but her heart still ached as if knives were being stabbed in at every angle. Repeatedly.

Over time, her heart would become callus and the pain would dull, but it would never truly be healed. Not again. A heart could only fully heal once after being broken so thoroughly. Shou had done a number on her heart three years ago, and now she'd inflicted an even worse wound.

As Kuu drove, Kyouko stared out the rain-splattered windshield sightlessly. Her world had screeched to a halt, even as the Earth turned, and the amber eyed woman feared it would never resume its rotation. Even if her world did manage to move again, it would be in jerky, half-hearted motions—not the smooth, graceful pirouette it had once been. It wouldn't even compare to the sporadic gait that had been caused by the Fuwa Fiasco.

Water splashed her face and it took several moments for Kyouko to realized they'd arrived at her apartment complex—the same one that her sempai resided in—and her Otou-san held open the passenger side door, using an umbrella as a futile shield against the wind and rain. The father-daughter pair were drenched as they ran for the doors leading to the lobby.

Inside the large complex was warm and dry with a doorman waiting at the entrance to hand out fluffy towels. The doorman silently handed the famous actors towels and fixed his gaze back on the street after a brief glance at the pair. He saw various idols, celebrities, and LME employees everyday so seeing Hizuri Kuu wasn't anything for him to get excited over.

While the doorman was voluntarily mute, he wasn't deaf, blind, or dumb. He knew very well that Tsuruga-sama and Mogami-sama were strictly friends, but he also knew that they didn't want to be. The funny thing was that they, and the media, had yet to figure out that such a feeling was mutual, despite it's obviousness.

After Kuu and Kyouko finished drying off the best they could, the two headed up to Kyouko's apartment. Kuu left fifteen minutes later, after having made sure his pseudo-daughter had changed into pajamas and crawled into bed with a murmured promise to call him when she woke up. On his way out, the Hollywood star tipped the doorman to ensure a certain actor who lived in the building didn't hear about Hizuri Kuu escorting a red-eyed Kyouko to her apartment. Kuu didn't want Ren to try and fix this mess before the older man knew exactly what was wrong and how badly his son had screwed up this time.

Julie stared blankly at the pages of her notebook and sighed. For the past half hour, she'd been racking her brain as she tried to come up with a plan of action for Operation Reconcile, but she still hadn't thought of anything that would persuade Kyouko to forgive Kuon. The main problem was that the model had absolutely no clue why Kyouko was angry. According to her son, the brunette had returned the kiss and had been peeved when it had come to an end—something that didn't happen when a girl, especially one as spirited as her adopted daughter, was kissed against her will. Such an act usually ended up with the culprit on the ground, whimpering and clutching his aching privates.

But if the kiss hadn't caused Kyouko to flee, what had? Julie and Kuon had put their heads together, but hadn't been able to think of a logical conclusion for the actress's actions.

The door to the bedroom creaked open and her husband appeared in the doorway. The middle-aged woman smiled at him, but her smile quickly faded, seeing his expression. She set her notebook and pencil aside to go to Kuu, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"What's wrong?"

Kuu sighed and returned the embrace. "Trying to decide what to do with our idiot son. I'm torn between a twelve-gauge shot gun and a wood chipper." As he'd predicted, his tiny wife slapped his arm and gave him a glare lacking in any real heat.

After a few moments of searching his face, Julie cuddled against him again. "How angry was she?"

"Angry? I could've handled angry, but when I found her, Jules, she was a mess." He briefly recounted what had happened while his wife had been with their son and by the end, the model was even more confused and being to worry.

Julie had seen the girl take immense onset bullying without batting an eye; had seen her go toe-to-toe with one of the most infamous directors this side of the Pacific and walk away unscathed and just as sweet and innocent as she had been when they'd first met. Mogami Kyouko was a tough woman—nothing that had happened in the vault could've possibly caused this. Unless, of course, Kuon had lied to her. If that was the case, her son would soon realize why many models still referred to her as a hellcat—especially those that had tried to chase after her husband.

* * *

><p>AN

Avid readers, the end is near! Only two chapters left, including some much needed fluff at the end of such a sad story. I'll update soon! I promise!

Thanks for reading! ~MGW96


	5. Chapter 5

Kyouko woke up late in the afternoon, tired and surprisingly, but delightfully, numb. The first of the pain had passed and for a while, she wouldn't be able to feel much of anything. After her emotional dry spell ended, the agony of heartbreak would come back with a vengeance, probably doubling in intensity. She'd enjoy her pain-free days while she could and then retreat from the world when the ache became pronounced enough to draw attention.

The amber eyed woman reluctantly left the warm cocoon of cotton covers to take a shower. She dried off afterwards and dressed before making herself a cup of tea. She sat down at her kitchen table and stared at the phone mounted on the wall. She'd promised Otou-san that she'd called, but Kyouko was understandably hesitant. While she was naturally numb, one word of he-who-she-now-refused-to-name and that numbness would be gone faster than a New York minute.

Her deliberation ended as a tentative knock sounded through her apartment. Otou-san, Okaa-san, Moko-san, and the President all had keys and the only other person who would've come to see her would be playing the part of an apologetic sempai. Kyouko refused to face him, especially if he still wore his perfect plastic mask. It was so life like that she'd mistaken it for his real emotions and expressions.

Such thoughts just went to prove how much she had to grow as an actress, especially if the black haired woman wanted to survive in the cut-throat industry of fame, wealth and plastic faces.

After another, equally timid knock, the amber eyed woman held her breath until she heard heavy footsteps leading away from her door several agonizing moments later. Maybe once she'd put the pieces of her heart back together, Kyouko would face the man who had been her sempai again. The wounds were still too fresh for a confrontation, especially one that was sure to escalate.

For several minutes, the actress huddled on her kitchen chair, staring at the door through a well placed mirror in the living room. No one had been able to sneak up on her since she'd moved in, though she often gave Otou-san the impression that he could. It made him happy for some reason and Kyouko liked making her adoptive father happy, even if it was in such a small way. She had liked making the-man-she-refuse-to-name smile too, even if she now knew they were false smiles. Things meant to merely put her at ease.

The amber eyed woman took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Most people, Kyouko included, dealt better with anger than with pain. Whether or not the fury was justified, though, wasn't so easily decided. Since she could only speculate that man's motives for his continued and flawless act—and the kiss—the actress didn't know if she had any real right to be angry with him. This was nothing like what had happened with Shou. At that time, Kyouko had had a clear plan of action too: beat the bastard by becoming an actress with more fame than Shou could ever hope to achieve.

Now, she wasn't even sure if she was going to go to work tomorrow, let alone face the cause of her agony. In a matter of minutes—seconds really—her life had turned upside down. And, not for the first time, Kyouko wondered why it had happened to her. She'd never done anything illegal and it had been almost two years since she last lied. How many actors could boast such a clean record, especially after rising into world of fame?

The actress nearly leaped from her chair as her landline rang. She scrambled for the phone, slipping on the slick lament floor. Kyouko reached up from her impromptu seat and snatched the phone out of its cradle. "Moshi moshi?"

Julie pulled the cell phone away from her ear and checked to make sure she hadn't misdialed. The voice that had answered wasn't as cheery as the normal Kyouko, nor did it have the polite quality the model had begun to associate with her new daughter. "Kyouko? It's Kaa-san."

"I didn't expect to hear from you so soon, Okaa-san," the brunette said, wrapping the cord anxiously around her fingers.

If anyone could get her to talk, it was her Okaa-san, and Kyouko didn't want to talk about what had happened in the President's vault, especially not when the other woman was prone towards leaping to Kyouko's defense. The younger woman didn't want Okaa-san jumping down that man's throat unless she was positive he'd done something wrong. She had broken her own heart by loving someone out of her reach. He hadn't had any hand in it. If you didn't count him making a woman who'd sworn off love fall head-over-heels for him that is.

No woman was safe from his charms.

"—ko. Kyouko!"

The amber eyed woman started, unaware that her adopted mother had continued speaking. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Julie managed to hold back her sigh of exasperation. Her little girl had just woken up after probably crying her eyes out. "I asked if you're okay. Kuu told me you were upset."

Kyouko suspected her Otou-san had probably used far more words to describe her initial breakdown, but understood what Okaa-san had meant. "I'm fine, just tired. I might take tomorrow off too." Maybe even the entire week. Maybe she would look into an occupation change; see if the President had any restaurant-owning friends who were hiring. Maybe she'd take one of the overseas movie offers she'd thought of turning down.

"A girl doesn't cry her eyes out because she'd tired, Kyouko."

She really didn't want to talk about this. "I'm fine."

"I don't believe you."

Kyouko closed her eyes and gritted her teeth against the increasing waves of pain that lapped at her numb heart. "Believe what you want, Okaa-san, but I'm not going to talk about it."

There was a few beats as Julie absorbed the snappish retort. "Did the kiss, Ren-kun's betrayal"—the model didn't really think of it as a betrayal, but she was trying to understand Kyouko's reasoning at the moment—"make you this upset?" she asked softly.

The amber eyed actress took a shaky breath. She wasn't sure how, but Okaa-san had found out what had sent her life into a tailspin. "I wouldn't call it a betrayal. It wasn't like he considered me more than a nuisance." The words were so detached that they were completely foreign even though Kyouko knew the words were coming out of her mouth. She couldn't believe she sounded that composed—as if the feelings of annoyance were mutual. A tiny, demented laugh bubbled from her lips before she could stop it.

Once again, the ex-model checked her phone to make sure she was speaking with her daughter. The Kyouko she knew often resembled a frightened woodland creature and was the sweetest, most honest entertainer you could find. This woman she was talking to didn't resemble Kyouko in the least, from her cool tones to her nonchalant reference to what the actress believed to be Kuon's abandonment of her. Perhaps Kuu hadn't been exaggerating like he often did. If anything, he had understated just how big an effect this whole fiasco had had on their pseudo-daughter. Or maybe he'd been trying not to get her too riled that she'd forget the necessity of composure and discretion and rip her stupid son a new one.

"Kyouko, you know that's not true."

"Do I?" the brunette mocked. "What do you know, 'Okaa-san'? Before two years ago, you didn't even know he existed. Who knows how long he's been playing nice, saving his gentleman reputation after getting bored with mentoring a talentless newbie?"

"He's never thought of you as talentless—"

The pain swelled and Kyouko snapped. "That's a lie and you damn well know it! Do you think I'm blind? Do you think I can't tell what regret and disgust looks like? Well, I can and I saw it plain as fucking day!" With that said, the actress slammed the phone back in its cradle and yanked the cord out from the wall.

The actress didn't make it to the chair before her legs gave out so she sat on the cold hardwood and sobbed into her hands. It was all so unfair! Why did she have to get her heart broken? Why did she have to be rejected over and over again? Kyouko wasn't perfect, but she tried the best she could. She was an honest, hardworking woman who tried her best to make those she loved happy. Was it too much to ask for a little bit of happiness for herself? Was it too much to hope that she'd find a man who could love her for fifty, sixty years? God, or whoever it was that governed the lives of those on Earth, seemed to think so.

In an apartment on the floor beneath the one Kyouko's apartment resided on, Ren sat sprawled on his couch, a tumbler of scotch in his hand and an open bottle on the coffee table. He'd been as such for the past half hour—ever since his failed attempt at facing Kyouko and apologizing. It was pretty obvious he'd upset her, but he still wasn't sure how he was going to fix it if she wasn't even going to talk to him, let alone see him.

He took another sip of his scotch, pausing as his cell phone jingled with a familiar ringtone. A glance at the screen confirmed his suspicions and the actor reluctantly answered the phone.

"Hai, Kaa-san?"

Without any sort of warning, the blonde woman let loose her fury. "WHAT the _HELL_ did YOU _DO_, you _UNGRATEFUL BASTARD?_ And DON'T YOU DARE SAY you didn't do a _DAMN_ THING, because I just got off the phone with her and she FUCKING yelled at me! At ME,_ HER__** MOTHER**_**! **And you know what? She HUNG UP on me! On me, HER _MOTHER_! WHAT DID YOU DO?" Julie demanded.

Ren held the phone as far away from his ear as possible and stared at it. His mother rarely, and he meant _rarely_, yelled. She grumbled, muttered, and sneered, but she didn't traditionally raise her voice. She thought such an action was unbecoming of a model. Ren was now inclined to agree.

"I told you everything, Kaa-san, I swear on Grandma Swan's grave." He knew better than to lie to his mother. She'd skin him alive and throw him into a vat of salt water.

"Oh, yeah? Then there's no meaning in her screams about 'disgust' and 'regret'?"

Ren nearly laughed—only a strangled sound escaped—sensing this was the real cause of the entire conflict. "Self-disgust sure. What man wouldn't be disgusted with himself if he lost control and screwed up his one chance of happily-ever-after. Regret too for the same reason."

The silence on the other end of the line stretched on for several moments. "Oh, hell, why didn't you say that before?" Julie sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I know how to fix this mess."

"What do I need to do?"

"You mean besides growing a brain, ahou?"

* * *

><p>AN

They'll make in the next, and final, chapter, I promise. I'll also include some fluff since this story has been so depressing. I'll try to update either tomorrow or the day after.

Thanks for reading! ~MWG96


	6. Chapter 6

A/N

The end is here!

This is the last chapter of _An Unforgettable_ Halloween and I've included some extra fluff since this has been a mostly depressing story.

I'll post a continuation to _A Happy Thanksgiving in Montana_ next week so keep an eye out for it!

Thanks for reading~ MWG96

* * *

><p>By the time Kyouko awoke for the second time, the sun had long ago set and the only light in her bedroom flittered in from the crack in her bedroom door. The woman frowned, trying to recall how she'd ended up in bed when the last thing she remembered was sobbing in her kitchen. The amber eyed woman had no recollection of moving from one location to another and that worried her almost as much as the sound of voices drifting in from the living room. There were at least three people arguing in the other room and Kyouko would've remembered letting anyone into her apartment. But what sort of burglars hung around after robbing someone?<p>

She silently pushed aside her covers, and padded out of her bedroom. As she drew closer to the living room she began to make out some of the words from the argument.

"—fault? How the heck is this my fault?"

"You're the one who kissed her."

Kyouko poked her head into her living room and was shocked to see Okaa-san, Otou-san and Tsuruga-san sitting around the living room table, drinking tea civilly despite their ongoing bickering.

"Oh, ease up, Kuu," Okaa-san scolded. "He's a boy in love. There a certain expectation for him _to_ do stupid things."

Tsuruga-san gave the blonde woman a dry look. "Oh, wow, thanks. That's just what I needed to hear."

"And I don't remember you being such a baby. Now go see if Kyouko's woken up," the tiny model ordered.

"She's already awake," Kyouko said, drawing their attention, "and confused. Shouldn't you two be ripping his head off or something?" That was certainly what she felt like doing, even though she knew it wasn't his fault her heart had been broken. Women in pain generally weren't rational, especially when concerning the person who had caused said pain.

Julie smiled at her daughter. "We were planning to before Ren-kun cleared up this whole misunderstanding. Sometimes you two are too oblivious for your own good."

The two actors exchanged a questioning glance before turning their puzzled gazes to the ex-model. Said blue eyed woman sighed, seeing that she was going to have to say it bluntly. "You two," she pointed at Kyouko and Kuon, "could've avoided this whole mess if one or both of you had noticed the other's feelings."

They still stared at her blankly and Julie resisted the urge to beat them over the head with a heavy object. "Kyouko wouldn't be heartbroken and Ren wouldn't be awash with guilt if one of you two had figured out the other is head over heels in love with you."

Finally, recognition set in and they stared at her like landed fishes. They were a match made in heaven, even if only regarding their obliviousness. Julie grabbed her coat while Kuu used his phone to snap a picture of the speechless pair. The Hollywood couple showed themselves out with a murmured good luck and left the couple to their own devices. The actors could only stare at the door in complete disbelief.

Kyouko was the first to break out of the daze and her gaze immediately flickered to the handsome man beside her before landing on her sock-covered feet, where it stayed as her mind whirled with new information. Her world, which had stopped completely, had suddenly begun to spin at top speed, leaving the actress more than a little off balance. And more than a little angry with herself for not even suspecting her sempai had felt the same way about her. Wasn't she was supposed to be able to see through any mask Tsuruga wore?

After a few more moments of silence, Kyouko began fiddling with her hands, unsure how to face her sempai. According to Okaa-san, their feelings were mutual but the amber eyed actress still wasn't entirely confident in that knowledge. Her doubts about her worth were still there, even if they had been temporarily soothed by Otou-san.

How could someone so handsome, so kind and caring love a plain, boring girl like her? Kyouko certainly didn't know. Her only redeeming qualities were cooking and sewing, neither of which were particularly attractive to the modern man, especially not one who had as bad eating habits as Tsuruga Ren.

The woman nearly jumped out of her skin when the tall man beside her placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder. Wide amber eyes turned to regard Ren, and he could see the hope and fear in her eyes plain as day. It gave him hope that his mother was right, and that this amazing woman loved him. It was surreal to say the least since he'd been in love with her for over ten years.

"Is what she said true?" he asked, slowly trailing his hand down Kyouko's arm until his hand met hers.

She shivered at the contact, but didn't pull away, which he took as a good sign. "Is it?" she asked quietly, silently enjoying the warmth of his large hand around hers.

"Yes."

Her amber eyes searched his face for a moment before a bright smile stretched across her face. "Yes, Ren. Yes."

The brunet returned her smile, and released her hand to draw her into the circle of his arms. She fit perfectly there, or at least Ren thought so. He placed a kiss on the top of her head, and drew back slightly as she lifted her head.

"If you're going to kiss me," Kyouko said slowly, standing on the tips of her toes, "do it like this." She wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing his head closer to hers, and kissed him.

Sometime later, the couple drew apart for air and neither could resist grinning.

"You do realize," Ren murmured, still dazed from their second kiss within twenty-four hours, "that we're going to have to thank her, right?"

"Thank who? For what?"

The tall actor chuckled. "I'll tell you later, Kyouko." Having said his piece, the tall man went back to making the love of his life forget all about the world around them.

It was a merely added bonus that he didn't have to think about wearing that damn pink jumpsuit starting Monday.

Several years and a few moves later, a twenty-seven year old Kyouko sat cross-legged beside the bed she shared with her fiancé and flipped through old photo albums. She had been in the middle of packing up the master bedroom when she'd stumbled upon a box of dusty albums she had forgotten about in the back of the closet.

The amber eyed woman smiled, seeing a photo of a tall, brooding brunet dressed in luminescent pink. She remembered the day that picture was taken and how utterly miserable he'd been that he had been forced to wear the Love Me jumpsuit for an entire week. He had cheered up eventually, especially after he'd stolen a few kisses in the LME camera blind spots. There was another photo tucked behind the one with the pink jumpsuit and Kyouko had a feeling she knew which one that was.

Yashiro, the devious but kind man he was, had given them that particular picture on their first anniversary as a couple. Unfortunately, he had shown it to the President first and Takarada-san had made an enlarged copy which he had proudly displayed in the Love Me room for the whole world to see. Moko had just patted Kyouko on the back sympathetically and congratulated the younger actress on her Love Me graduation. The raven haired actress had graduated less than two years later, after announcing her relationship with the aforementioned manager.

Ren, though he went by Kuon now, had extracted his revenge by getting a picture of the actress and bespectacled man making out and had proudly presented it to the President. It had been a cold war between actor and manager for nearly six years now with no end in sight. Moko and Kyouko both agreed that their men were being stubborn idiots, but left the guys to sort out the mess themselves. They knew better than to get involved.

The amber eyed actress was so engrossed in the photos and the memories they inspired, she didn't hear her fiancé come up behind her.

"What're you smiling 'bout?" Kuon asked, turning his head to get a better look at the album in the lap of his fiancée—God, but he loved using that word now, especially when it meant he could stake a claim on his Kyouko.

Said woman reacted as if an alien had suddenly beamed down in front of her and at some point, the woman had scrabbled across the bed, clutching the dusty album to her chest. Her reaction gave her blonde husband-to-be a few ideas about which album she had been looking through.

"Kyouko," he rumbled menacingly, "is that the album I think it is?"

"Um, no?"

She squealed as the tall man lunged for her and the album, and quickly fled towards the living room of their shared apartment, dodging half packed boxes as she went. Unfortunately, her nifty footwork still needed improvement and Kyouko caught her foot on the edge of a box filled to the brim with packing material. It went flying just as Kuon barreled into the room.

The blonde man slipped on the packing peanuts and ended up looming over his petite fiancée, who still clutched the album closely even as she stifled a smile at their current position and the peanuts that had landed in her man's hair. He smiled down at her, blue eyes glinting triumphantly as he leaned down to steal a kiss, something that he did at almost every opportunity now.

"You know, we should do this more often."

Kyouko laughed, a trill of bells to his ears. "Considering you always kiss me whenever you have the time."

"And is that such a bad thing?"

She smiled up at him and before he could swoop in to steal another kiss, held the photo album in front of her lips. "Would you like to walk down memory lane with me for a bit?"

She gave him wide, sweet amber eyes and a signature pout that always got him to do whatever she wanted. It was only fair since he could give her that smile that made her knees weak and her heart rate skyrocket. Those times were the closest she had and would ever come to swooning.

Kuon knew he long before she'd given him that look that he was a goner, and even if a part of him sighed, there was a part of him that had never been happier with that fact.

"Fine, but if I find one of the pictures from that Halloween party two years ago, I'm going to burn them."

"You think I would leave those in a place you could find them?" Was his soon-to-be bride's indignant response.


End file.
